MEDIA COURTHOUSE >> A Lancaster County woman who mutilated a puppy’s ears in 2013 is in custody again for allegedly violating parole conditions that limited her contact with animals.

Kristina Murphy, 23, formerly of the 400 block of Glendale Road in Haverford, was sentenced to more than four years of probation in September 2014 after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty and a summary count of animal cruelty for neglecting to provide veterinary care for the 8-week-old puppy, later named Van Gogh by his rescuers.

Murphy was ordered to continue with psychiatric treatment as part of her probation and not to own any animals or have contact with animals, rescues or shelters whatsoever. But Delaware County Probation Officer Mary Ellen Hoffman, standing in for Probation Officer Dawn Clark, told Common Pleas Court Judge James Nilon Tuesday that the office had gotten word that Murphy was violating those terms.

“Dawn received information in the early part of last week that the defendant had in fact been in touch with animals and animal rescues,” said Hoffman. “(Clark) received a receipt that was dated March 21, 2017, (stating) that the defendant did purchase a guinea pig from the Petco store in Clifton Heights under the alias of ‘Katie Steel,’ and she used her mother’s address as the contact address in Narberth, Pa.”

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Hoffman said Murphy also tried to adopt several dogs online through Craigslist and text messages indicate she succeeded in adopting one Yorkie named Vivian in November 2016. Hoffman aid her department was told Vivian was later given to an ex-boyfriend, who was able to adopt the dog out to a family.

“The rest of the animals Miss Murphy could not account for,” said Hoffman. “She claims that she gave them away to family. I had our two mental health liaisons go earlier this week to talk to her to find out if she could recall – she still doesn’t recall the names or the people she gave them to, but says she gave all these animals away.”

Murphy was called in to the probation office Thursday and taken into custody, said Hoffman. She appeared via closed-circuit television Tuesday from the county prison in Concord.

Van Gogh’s case made headlines in October 2013, when Murphy brought the wounded pup to the Stoney Creek Veterinary Hospital in Morton claiming to have found it abandoned near 69th Street in Upper Darby.

She later admitted to Delaware County SPCA humane investigators that she accidentally cut one of the dog’s ears off while using scissors to remove scabs and flea bites on the dog’s head, then panicked and cut the other one off.

“I wrapped his head so the bleeding would stop,” said Murphy in a statement at that time. “I said I found him so he could get medical care that I could not afford.”

Investigators later removed another 10 animals under Murphy’s care and Van Gogh was adopted by Stoney Creek veterinarian Jennifer Johnson. He is reportedly still “doing great,” according to a receptionist at the office Tuesday.

“I know what I’ve done and I’m sorry for doing it,” said Murphy at sentencing in 2014. “When I did it, I wasn’t on medication. I wasn’t in treatment. I’m now in treatment and I’m doing a lot better.”

Defense attorney Joseph Malley said at that hearing that his client suffers from a host of mental health disorders and reiterated Tuesday that she has been diagnosed with bipolar and reactive attachment disorder.

Malley said Murphy also suffers from an aggressive form of vasculitis that recently required amputation to part of her leg. Murphy will need constant medical care and monitoring for another lesion above the amputation site for approximately two months, when her mother will be staying with her and a boyfriend would be available, said Malley. A 2-year-old child would stay with the father during that period, he added.

Nilon said he had concerns about releasing Murphy ahead of a possible violation of probation hearing for fear she could do herself harm and questioned the extent to which her mother could properly control Murphy’s actions. There was a question of whether Murphy had applied lye to a wound at some point, which Murphy denied Tuesday.

Hoffman said Murphy had been evaluated by a psychiatrist over the weekend and was not deemed homicidal or suicidal. Malley indicated Murphy’s prior contacts with a psychiatrist had dwindled to about once a month, but said his client was happy to begin weekly visits with a new psychiatrist in Lancaster.

Hoffman said she would not be opposed to releasing Murphy if she came in to the office for weekly visits with her probation officer. Murphy would also have to submit to monthly blood draws to ensure she is medication compliant, stay off social media and have no contact with animals, said Hoffman.

Malley said he would draft an order to that effect and run it by Hoffman and prosecutors for the judge to sign. Assistant District Attorney Meaghan Wagner, standing in for Alan Borowsky Tuesday, did not object to those terms and the judge said he would sign the order today.

“We’re hoping that maybe these last few days in prison was a wake-up call to her that the courts and the probation department is not playing around,” said Hoffman. “It might take us weeks, it might take us a couple of months, but eventually we’re going to find out and she’s going to be held accountable and responsible for her actions.”